Christian Ethics and Homosexuality: Clarifying the Issue

In recent years, the ethical status of homosexuality has become one of the most controversial theological issues in the Western Church.  In spite of the Church’s longstanding traditional teaching that homosexual behavior^[1]Some advocates of traditional Christian sexual ethics prefer to use the terminology of saying that “homogenital acts” are sinful.  This is because “sexuality” encompasses many aspects of … Continue reading is always sinful, an increasing number of Western Christians have argued that the Church should change its position on this issue and instead approve of committed, monogamous homosexual relationships.  Before delving into the biblical and theological issues surrounding this topic, it is important to clarify what we are talking about when we discuss homosexuality and what the theological issue in question actually is.

The Phenomena of Same-Sex Attraction

It is important to understand that, generally speaking, people do not choose to experience same-sex attraction.  For some people, ever since they first started experiencing romantic/sexual attraction, they have been attracted to others of their same sex, without any conscious choice to feel this way.  For other people, their sexual orientation has changed over time, and they have later developed feelings of same-sex attraction, without any conscious choice to begin feeling this way.^[2]See Loves God, Likes Girls: A Memoir by Sally Gary (Abilene, TX: Leafwood Publishers, 2013).  While Gary was initially attracted to men, by the time she was in college she found herself instead … Continue reading  

It is not fully understood what causes same-sex attraction.  Much research has been done attempting to find a “gay gene” that causes homosexual orientation.  This research has conclusively shown that, while genetics may be one significant factor in shaping an individual’s sexual orientation, sexual orientation is certainly not genetically determined.^[3]Stanton L. Jones and Mark A. Yarhouse, Homosexuality: The Use of Scientific Research in the Church’s Moral Debate (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), 47-92.  Human sexuality is complex, and like any complex personality trait, there are various factors – biology, life experiences, choices – that shape it.  Every individual is unique, and for each individual who experiences same-sex attraction, there may be different combinations of factors that have caused it.

Different individuals may also experience same-sex attraction to various degrees.  Rather than there being a simple division between “gay” and “straight” people, same-sex attraction exists on a spectrum, from people who identify as “heterosexual” but experience some degree of same-sex attraction, to people who identify as bi-sexual, to people who identify as “homosexual” but experience some degree of opposite-sex attraction, to people to exclusively experience same-sex attraction.  Again, where an individual falls on this spectrum may change over time.

The use of therapy to attempt to change an individual’s sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual can, in some cases, be effective. Nevertheless, success rates for such therapy are relatively low, suggesting that, for some people with a homosexual orientation, a change of sexual orientation may not be realistically possible.^[4]Jones and Yarhouse, 117-151. There are numerous Christians with a homosexual orientation who have concluded that it is not possible for them to change their sexual orientation and who choose to identify themselves as celibate gay Christians.^[5]One example is Ed Shaw, who has written about his experiences in Same-Sex Attraction and the Church: The Surprising Plausibility of the Celibate Life (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2015).  Another example … Continue reading  Since these Christians have no ulterior motive for claiming that it is not possible for them to change (they remain committed to a traditional Christian sexual ethic), we can be sure that their testimony is sincere and truthful. We must listen to the experiences of our same-sex attracted brothers and sisters in Christ and take those experiences seriously when they tell us that, in spite of their best, prayerful efforts to change, their homosexual orientation is not something that is going to change during this life.

Thus, though the phenomena of same-sex attraction is complex, it is the case that some Christians exclusively experience same-sex attraction and that this will continue to be the case for the rest of their lives.  According to traditional Christian sexual ethics, these Christians would be required to be celibate for the rest of their lives.  Is this something that the Church should demand of them?

Homosexuality: Orientation and Behavior

Christians who believe that the Church should be affirming of homosexuality usually present the issue as whether the Church should exclude gay people or not.  The issue then becomes one of discrimination and justice.  The Church is supposed to be a community that is willing to accept all kinds of people, without discrimination or prejudice.  How can the Church justify excluding and rejecting people just because, through no choice of their own, they are gay?

However, regardless of what one believes about the morality of homosexuality, this is the wrong way to present the issue.  Christians simply cannot accept the idea that a person’s identity is defined by whatever feelings and desires they have inside.  Rather, Christians find their identity in Christ alone.  The realities of the Fall and of original sin mean that all Christians have desires and feelings inside which they did not choose that can lead them to act in sinful ways.  Following Jesus as His disciple meant being willing to give up acting on those feelings and desires for the sake of being obedient to God and of living a holy life.  Christians cannot define themselves by the feelings and desires they have inside; they instead must define themselves according to their identity in Christ, and then seek to live out that identity by growing in Christ and being conformed to His image.

Nor can Christians accept the idea that we must act on our sexual desires.  Jesus, our model for what it means to be genuinely human, never got married or had sex, even though He was tempted in every way just as we are (Heb 4:15). The New Testament clearly teaches, and the Church has always believed, that celibacy is a way of expressing one’s sexuality that is in some ways actually better than marriage.  Just because a Christian exclusively experiences same-sex attraction over the course of their whole life, this does not mean that they must engage in homosexual behavior at some point.  According to Christian theology, no one has a “right” to have sex.  According to Christian theology, a person can have a full and fulfilled life without ever getting married or having sex.  

Thus, the issue is not whether the Church should exclude “gay” people; the issue is whether the Church should approve of homosexual behavior.  If traditional Christian sexual ethics is correct, then experiencing same-sex attraction is a temptation to sin, no different than any other temptation.  All Christians experience temptations to sin.  Jesus Himself was tempted to sin, but He was completely sinless.  Temptation and sin are two different things.  If traditional Christian sexual ethics is correct, this does not imply that experiencing same-sex attraction is sinful, any more than a man being attracted to a married woman is sinful.  Traditional Christian sexual ethics does not say that we should exclude people from the Church because they have a homosexual orientation; it says that all Christians should be required to abstain from engaging in homosexual behavior, even if some of them have a strong desire to do so.

Thus, the Church’s moral debate about homosexuality cannot legitimately be framed a debate about whether we should be prejudiced against gay people and discriminate against them.  The Church’s moral debate about homosexuality, it must be clarified, is simply a debate about sexual ethics; is homosexual behavior immoral and sinful or not?

It should be noted that the overwhelming consensus of the Church over the past 2,000 years is that homosexual behavior is always sinful.  Because of the importance of the authority of tradition, this means that the burden of proof is on Christians who argue that the Church should now approve of homosexual behavior to demonstrate why this is the case.  The benefit of the doubt should be given to the traditional position.  It is, of course, possible that the traditional Christian position on this issue is wrong, and if it can be demonstrated that what Scripture has to say about this issue has traditionally been misinterpreted and/or misapplied, then the traditional position should be abandoned.  It is to the teachings of Scripture that I will turn in my next three entries in this series.  

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Christian Ethics and Homosexuality: The Teachings of the Old Testament >>